Minnesota Officials and House Democrats Press DOJ Over Civil‑Rights Role in Renee Good and Alex Pretti Killings During Operation Metro Surge
Minnesota officials, led by Attorney General Keith Ellison, and House Judiciary Democrats are pressing the Justice Department for records and answers after DOJ lawyers reportedly told its Civil Rights Division not to investigate the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti during Operation Metro Surge and state investigators were blocked from evidence access. The lawmakers allege DOJ ordered investigative targeting of Good’s widow and unusually gave ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations lead responsibility in the Pretti case rather than an independent or FBI review—actions that coincided with the Minnesota BCA’s withdrawal from the Good probe and a federal order preserving evidence in Pretti’s case.
📌 Key Facts
- House Judiciary Democrats and Minnesota officials sent a formal letter pressing the DOJ for records, alleging the department is avoiding civil‑rights scrutiny of the Renee Good and Alex Pretti killings and that investigators were ordered to target Good’s widow.
- DOJ’s Civil Rights Division was specifically told it would not investigate Renee Good’s death, a decision experienced DOJ lawyers described as uncommon for a fatal law‑enforcement shooting.
- The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension withdrew from the Good investigation after the U.S. Attorney’s Office told it the FBI would lead the probe and that the BCA would lose access to scene evidence, case materials and interviews; federal line agents were also reported to have blocked state prosecutors from accessing key evidence in the Good case, with similar restrictions appearing around the Pretti scene.
- Current and former officials say the DOJ assigned ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations to lead the probe of Alex Pretti’s killing instead of a more traditional independent or FBI‑led review, a move described as unusual; a federal court order has been used to preserve evidence in Pretti’s case.
- Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison publicly accuses Operation Metro Surge of being politically motivated 'retribution' tied to former President Trump, says he has evidence DOJ is not investigating Good’s death, and rejects DHS’s account of the treatment of 5‑year‑old Liam Ramos.
- DHS and Border Patrol officials have publicly highlighted arrests of noncitizens with prior convictions during Operation Metro Surge and DHS leadership demanded that Gov. Tim Walz and local officials honor ICE detainers for more than 1,360 jailed noncitizens, accusing local jails of releasing public‑safety threats.
- Operation Metro Surge has generated widespread fear and trauma in Twin Cities communities—particularly among St. Paul’s Hmong community—with Mayor Kaohly Her saying Hmong Village vendors report 60–70% drops in business, many residents (including U.S. citizens) are afraid to leave home and are keeping children from school; pediatricians and local reports describe increased anxiety, behavioral regressions in children, use of chemical irritants/tear gas affecting families and the detention of minors.
- There has been internal fallout over the surge: DHS official Greg Bovino was removed from the Minneapolis command and Tom Homan was elevated to lead the metro surge, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was questioned at the White House about DHS’s handling and public statements regarding the Pretti shooting.
📰 Source Timeline (7)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
January 27, 2026
11:58 AM
Noem facing internal scrutiny but expected to keep job, sources say
New information:
- The CBS piece adds internal executive‑branch detail: Noem faced questions in person at the White House on Monday about DHS’s handling of the Pretti shooting and its public statements.
- It also documents a specific organizational response the earlier piece did not: Bovino’s removal from the Minneapolis command and Tom Homan’s elevation to lead the metro surge there.
11:00 AM
Key legislators seek DOJ records on Alex Pretti and Renee Good killings by next week
New information:
- House Judiciary Democrats have joined Minnesota officials in pressing DOJ, with a formal letter alleging the department is avoiding civil‑rights scrutiny and ordering investigators to target Renee Good’s widow instead.
- The letter cites reports that federal line agents were told to block state prosecutors from accessing key evidence in the Good case and that similar restrictions are appearing around the Pretti scene.
- CBS confirms that DOJ’s Civil Rights Division was specifically told it would not investigate Good’s death, which experienced DOJ lawyers describe as uncommon for a fatal law‑enforcement shooting.
- Current and former officials highlight as unusual DOJ’s decision to give ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations lead responsibility for probing Pretti’s killing, rather than a more traditional independent or FBI‑led review.
- Minnesota BCA’s withdrawal from the Good case and the subsequent federal court order preserving evidence in Pretti’s case are now framed explicitly as fallout from DOJ’s posture, not just DHS’s.
January 24, 2026
2:23 AM
Minnesota AG Keith Ellison accuses White House of "politics and retribution"
New information:
- Keith Ellison says he has 'evidence to the contrary' that DOJ is investigating Renee Good’s death and quotes Deputy AG Todd Blanche as saying DOJ is not investigating at all.
- Ellison confirms the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was told by the U.S. Attorney’s Office that the FBI would lead the Good probe alone and that BCA would lose access to scene evidence, case materials and interviews, prompting BCA’s withdrawal.
- Ellison flatly rejects DHS’s claim that 5‑year‑old Liam Ramos was 'abandoned,' says credible people who know the child refute that, and calls his treatment 'another example of atrocity' under Operation Metro Surge.
- The article outlines the core claims in Minnesota’s and Minneapolis/St. Paul’s federal lawsuit: alleged warrantless civil immigration arrests without individualized probable cause, racial profiling, excessive detention and a surge Ellison characterizes as '100% about politics and retribution.'
- Ellison publicly ties Operation Metro Surge to what he says is Trump’s explicit promise of 'retribution' and his grievance about 'losing' Minnesota, arguing the surge is retaliation, not neutral law enforcement.
January 23, 2026
7:04 PM
Convicted pedophiles, sex predators arrested in Minnesota immigration sweep within the last 24 hours
New information:
- DHS and Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino publicly tout specific arrests during Operation Metro Surge, naming several noncitizens with prior convictions as examples of the 'worst of the worst.'
- Newly identified arrestees include Jose Eliborio Ocampo‑Leon (Mexico), previously convicted of criminal sexual conduct with a victim under 16; Rudy Alexander Pineda‑Aguilar (Guatemala), convicted of criminal sexual conduct; and Gerardo Sanchez‑Acuna (Mexico), convicted of drug trafficking.
- Additional arrestees highlighted are Jeffrey Alexander Roman‑Rabanales (Guatemala), convicted of assault, domestic assault and property damage; Salvador Salazar‑Rivera (Mexico), convicted of domestic assault and inflicting corporal injury on a spouse; and Ayro Ariel Mimbrera‑Fernandez (Mexico), who had an outstanding federal arrest warrant related to amphetamines.
- DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin explicitly accuses Minnesota jails of having released 'many of these public safety threats' and renews the department’s demand that Gov. Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey honor ICE detainers on what DHS says are more than 1,360 jailed noncitizens.
January 22, 2026
9:01 AM
The ICE surge is fueling fear and anxiety among Twin Cities children
New information:
- Pediatrician Dr. Razaan Byrne at Children’s Minnesota reports every patient seen in a recent clinic day discussed increased stress, trauma, anxiety and depression stemming from ICE presence, with symptoms including emotional outbursts and regression such as bed‑wetting.
- Article describes specific recent incidents involving children: ICE use of chemical irritants on a crowd that included students during school dismissal; tear gas affecting a family in a car and sending a 6‑month‑old baby to the hospital; and federal officers in Columbia Heights detaining a 5‑year‑old boy whose whereabouts remain unknown.
- Columbia Heights Public School District superintendent Zena Stenvik says three other district students under 18 have been detained by federal agents in recent weeks and questions DHS’s claim that it is targeting only violent criminals.
2:12 AM
St. Paul mayor says city's Hmong community "afraid to leave their homes" due to ICE
New information:
- St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her says Hmong Village marketplace, a key hub for the nation’s largest Hmong community, now has many stalls standing empty because people are too afraid to go out during Operation Metro Surge.
- Her reports Hmong Village vendors telling her business is down 60–70%, leaving many unable to cover roughly $1,400‑a‑month booth rents.
- She says Hmong residents — including her own naturalized‑citizen parents — are 'afraid to leave their homes' and are keeping children home from school out of fear of ICE, despite being U.S. citizens or legal residents.
- Her, the first Asian American and first woman mayor of St. Paul, says U.S. citizens are being detained or targeted 'just by the way they look and the way that they sound,' challenging DHS’s narrative that only 'the worst of the worst' are at risk.
January 18, 2026